Advertisers Develop Voluntary Program to Deter Unwitting Online Ad Support of Copyright Pirates

Last fall, WLF Legal Pulse highlighted some copyright and patent owners’ use of self-help initiatives to bolster their intellectual property rights. The copyright owners discussed in that post—chiefly movie and entertainment studios—face an especially daunting challenge due to the digital nature and distribution of the content they produce. In addition to individual acts of copyright infringement, entertainment providers must confront sophisticated and elusive websites devoted largely to facilitating content piracy. As we discussed in another fall 2014 blog commentary, these “cyberlockers” enjoy an average profit ratio of over 64% thanks in part to legitimate businesses’ advertisements and the payment processing of services like MasterCard and Visa.

For the past several years, advertisers have worked to address ad-support for online piracy. Those efforts have now crystallized into a formal voluntary program announced last week by the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG). TAG, which consists of major advertising-related trade associations, launched the Brand Integrity Program Against Piracy. Under the program, TAG will work with independent third parties, such as Ernst & Young, to certify companies that assist advertisers and ad agencies to avoid ad placement on cyberlockers and other undesirable websites. If these companies meet certain effectiveness criteria, TAG will validate them as “Digital Advertising Assurance Providers” (DAAPs). The Business Integrity Program also allows large ad networks and publishers that have already implemented internal controls to self-verify as DAAPs.

TAG developed the voluntary DAAPs certification program without the involvement or encouragement of government regulators. As market actors whose legitimacy and credibility are crucial to their continued success, advertisers and ad agencies understood that ads for multi-billion-dollar brands could not continue to support unlawful activity. Much of that brand value exists thanks in no small part to intellectual property protection. No doubt entertainment content owners underscored that reality when encouraging those trademark owners and their advertisers to take action against content piracy. All those involved in the Brand Integrity Program Against Piracy have a shared stake in its success, and the voluntary nature of the program allows them to quickly adapt their efforts. Such incentives and flexibility do not exist in a one-size-fits-all government regulatory program.

TAG and the other architects of this certification initiative are to be applauded for their announcement. We will monitor further developments with great interest. We also hope that the voluntary, concerted effort sends a strong message to the payment processors whose services continue to assist copyright infringement. The next important move is theirs.